What is Lib Dem conference?

The Liberal Democrats hold two federal (i.e. UK-wide) party conferences a year, a weekend in the spring and a week in the autumn. All Liberal Democrat members can attend and vote, subject to paying the registration fee. The conferences are a mix of set-piece speeches, policy debates, fringe meetings, training events and more, and are organised by the Federal Conference Committee (FCC).

Taking part in debates at conference

Any party member who registers to go to conference can then also put in a speaker’s card to speak in one of the formal debates in the main conference hall. It is best to fill out the card and submit it well in advance of the debate as that greatly increases your chance of being called to speak. Details of where to get the speaker’s cards and where to submit them are in the conference agenda booklet published for each conference. See also these nine tips on speaking at Liberal Democrat conference.

In addition to these main debates, there are also usually more informal consultation sessions and also many fringe meetings. Speaking at these is usually a matter of putting your hand up and hoping to be called by the chair – so it is more possible to react to what you have heard and decide you have something to say; for the formal conference hall debates you need to plan more in advance.

7 reasons to come to Lib Dem conference

Liberal Democrat conference hashtags

The traditional hashtag to use on social media is #LDConf, but since the May 2015 general election #LibDemFightback has also become a popular hashtag to use at conference time as well as on other occasions.

Lib Dem policy making

Other Lib Dem conferences

In addition to the two Lib Dem federal conferences, the Scottish and Welsh parties, along with the English Party regions, hold their own conferences.

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[…] Liberal Democrat conferences are rather like local party AGMs in that the tendency in the party is to say ‘come to them’ rather than explain what happens and why coming to them is a good idea. Which rather matters if you’ve never been to one or other – or even both. […]

[…] education section has one of the agreement’s ticking political time bombs: student tuition fees. Liberal Democrat conference and the Federal Policy Committee have made very clear their strong support for scrapping them. The […]

[…] The World Tonight lined up the three of us to talk about Nick Clegg’s speech to the Brighton Lib Dem conference. You can listen to our discussion, along with interviews with other conference attendees […]